Deep ultraviolet light emitting diode

Abstract

A carbon doped short period superlattice is provided. A heterostructure includes a short period superlattice comprising a plurality of quantum wells alternating with a plurality of barriers. One or more of the quantum wells and/or the barriers includes a carbon doped layer (e.g., a non-percolated or percolated carbon atomic plane).

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A group III nitride semiconductor heterostructure comprising:
 a short period superlattice comprising a plurality of quantum wells alternating with a plurality of barriers, wherein the plurality quantum wells comprise a semiconductor material having a first band gap and the plurality of barriers comprise a semiconductor material having a second band gap wider than the first band gap, and wherein each of at least one of: the plurality of quantum wells or the plurality of barriers includes a plane of carbon embedded therein. 
 
     
     
       2. The heterostructure of  claim 1 , wherein the plane of carbon comprises at least one monolayer graphene domain. 
     
     
       3. The heterostructure of  claim 1 , wherein the plane of carbon forms a set of cluster domains. 
     
     
       4. The heterostructure of  claim 3 , wherein the at least one of the plurality of quantum wells or the plurality of barriers has regions with variable composition. 
     
     
       5. The heterostructure of  claim 4 , wherein the regions with variable composition and the set of cluster domains have similar characteristic lateral sizes. 
     
     
       6. The heterostructure of  claim 1 , wherein the heterostructure further includes a light generating structure having an n-type side and a p-type side, and wherein the short period superlattice is located on the n-type side of the light generating structure. 
     
     
       7. The heterostructure of  claim 6 , wherein the short period superlattice is a buffer layer located between an n-type contact and a substrate. 
     
     
       8. The heterostructure of  claim 6 , wherein the short period superlattice further includes n-type doping. 
     
     
       9. The heterostructure of  claim 1 , wherein the heterostructure further includes a light generating structure having an n-type side and a p-type side, and wherein the short period superlattice is located on the p-type side. 
     
     
       10. The heterostructure of  claim 9 , wherein the short period superlattice is located between the light generating structure and an electron blocking layer. 
     
     
       11. A group III nitride semiconductor light emitting device comprising:
 a short period superlattice comprising a first plurality of sub-layers alternating with a second plurality of sub-layers, wherein the first plurality of sub-layers comprise a semiconductor material having a first band gap and the second plurality of sub-layers comprise a semiconductor material having a second band gap wider than the first band gap, and wherein each of at least one of: the first or second pluralities of sub-layers have regions with a plane of carbon embedded therein, wherein regions laterally adjacent to the regions with the plane of carbon include no carbon. 
 
     
     
       12. The device of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one of: the first or second pluralities of sub-layers further include regions with variable composition. 
     
     
       13. The device of  claim 12 , wherein the plane of carbon includes a set of cluster domains, and wherein the regions with variable composition and the regions with the set of cluster domains have similar characteristic lateral sizes. 
     
     
       14. The device of  claim 11 , wherein the short period superlattice is located on an n-type side of a light generating structure of the device. 
     
     
       15. The device of  claim 14 , wherein the short period superlattice further includes n-type doping. 
     
     
       16. A method of fabricating a light emitting diode, the method comprising:
 fabricating a group III nitride semiconductor heterostructure, the fabricating including forming a short period superlattice comprising a plurality of quantum wells alternating with a plurality of barriers, wherein the plurality quantum wells comprise a semiconductor material having a first band gap and the plurality of barriers comprise a semiconductor material having a second band gap wider than the first band gap, and wherein the forming each of at least one of: the plurality of quantum wells or the plurality of barriers includes a plane of carbon embedded therein. 
 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 16 , wherein the fabricating further includes forming a light generating structure configured to emit deep ultraviolet light, wherein the short period superlattice is located on an n-type side of the light generating structure. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 17 , wherein the fabricating further includes forming an n-type contact, wherein the n-type contact is located between the light generating structure and the short period superlattice. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 16 , wherein fabricating further includes forming an electron blocking layer, wherein the short period superlattice is located immediately adjacent to the electron blocking layer. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 19 , wherein the short period superlattice is located between the electron blocking layer and a light generating structure of the heterostructure.